Vine-mower.



W. I. HALL.

VINE MOWER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1909.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

W. I. HALL.

VINE MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1909.

Patented. Mar. 15, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WILLIAM I. HALL, OF ROSEHILL, NORTH CAROLINA.

VINE-MOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.-

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

Application filed June 30, 1909. Serial No. 505,237.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM I. HALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rosehill, in the county of Duplin and State of NorthCarolina, have invented a new and useful Vine-Mower, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to vine mowers, and it consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of its parts, as hereinafter shown anddescribed.

The object of the invention is to provide a. mower especially adapted tobe used for harvesting vines such as peas, etc., and the parts of themachine are so arranged that the vines may be harvested whether they lieupon the surface of the ground, or partly upon the surface of the groundand partly upon upright stalks or other supports.

With the above object in view the ma chine comprises a primarysickle-bar arranged for horizontal reciprocatory movement, and one ormore secondary sicklebars arranged for vertical or approximatelyvertical reciprocatory movement. The said vertically disposedsickle-bars derive their movement from the horizontal sickle-bar.

The frame of the mower is mounted upon a traction wheel, and meansoperatively connect the said traction wheel with the said horizontallydisposed sickle-bar. The horizontally disposed sickle-bar 'severs thestalks or stems of the peas or vines in close proximity to the ground,while the vertically disposed sickle-bars sever the stalks of the vines,so that the vines which are cut in the swaths are severed from the vineswhich are left standing. Consequently, the vines are not left in atangled state upon the surface of the ground, but lie thereon indistinct mats, which renders it comparatively easy to harvest the vines.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a top plan view of the mower.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of theopposite side of the mower from that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is atransverse section of a portion of the same, cut on the line 4-1 ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 1s a rear edge view of the outer portion of the prlmarycutter-bar and its attachments. Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional viewthrough the outer portion of the primary cutter-bar, showing the endcutter-bar in elevation. Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view of theouter portion of the primary cutter-bar, cut on a clifferent plane fromthat upon which the view illustrated in Fig. 6 is cut. Fig.- 8 is aperspective view of a bolt for adjustably securing the secondarycutter-bar upon the primary cutter-bar. Fig. 9 is a perspective view ofmeans for connecting the primary sickle-bar with an operating lever.

The mower consists of a frame 1, which is mounted upon an axle 2, andwhich in turn is supported by .a traction wheel 3. Shafts 4 areconnected at their rear ends with the frame 1, and at their forwardportions are adapted to receive a draft animal. Handles 5 are fixed tothe rear portion of the frame 1. A cutter-bar 7 is attached to theforward portion of the frame 1, and one end projects laterally beyondthe side of said frame. At the extremity of that end of the saidcutter-bar which projects beyond the side of the frame is provided avertically disposed cutter-bar section 8. A sickle-bar 9 is mounted forreciprocation upon the cutterbar 7, and a sickle-bar 10 is mounted forreciprocation along the cutter-bar section 8. A hell-crank lever 11 isfulcrumed to the rear edge of the cutter-bar 7 in the vicinity of theextremity of the end thereof which projects beyond the side of the frame1, and a link 12, pivotally connects one end of the said bell-cranklever with the sickle-bar 9, and a link 13 pivotally connects the otherend of the. said bell-crank lever 11 with the sicklebar 10.

A shaft 1a is j ournaled for rotation upon the frame 1 behind thetraction wheel 3 and is provided with a loose sprocket wheel 15, and afixed sprocket wheel 16. Said wheels 15 and 16 are located in planesbeyond the opposite sides of the said traction wheel 3. A sprocket wheel17 is fixed to the axle 2, and a sprocket chain 18 passes around thesprocket wheels 15 and 17. As has been stated, the traction wheel 8 isfixed to the axle 2. A cylinder 19 is journaled for rotation upon theaxle 2, and is provided at one end with a series of teeth 20. A chain 21passes around the series of teeth 20 and the sprocket wheel 16. Thecylinder 19 is provided upon its periphery with a continuous zigzaggroove 22. A lever 23 is fulcrumed upon the frame 1, and has its workingend pivotally connected with the sickle-bar 9, and its power end isinserted between the side walls of the zigzag groove 22 in the cylinder19. As illustrated in Fig. 9 of the drawings, the pivotal connectionbetween the lever 23 and the sicklebar 9 is effected by means of anelongated slot 24:, provided in the lever 23, which receives atransversely disposed bolt 25, which also passes through the sickle-bar9. By

this arrangement it will be seen that the said lever 28 is permitted toswing in an arc, while the sickle-bar 9 may reciprocate. A clutch member26 is slidably mounted upon the shaft 14 and is operatively connectedwith a lever 27, which is fulcrumed upon the frame 1. The said lever 27is adapted to be swung, whereby the said clutch member 26 may be broughtinto engagement with the clutch hub 28 of the sprocket wheel 15, andthus the shaft 14 may be caused to rotate in unison with the sprocketwheel 15. It is understood that when the lever 27 is swung so that theclutch member 26 is moved away from the clutch hub 28, the said shaftwill remain at rest while the sprocket wheel 15 rotates. I

A non-circular bolt 29 is located at the outer end portion of thecutter-bar 7, and an octagonal sleeve 30 is slidably mounted upon thesaid bolt 29. The opening in the sleeve 30 snugly receives thenon-circular bolt 29 and hence the sleeve is restrained against rotationupon the bolt 29, and the sleeve is held on the bolt by means of a nut31, which is screw-threaded upon the said bolt 29. The cutter-barsection 8 is provided with an octagonal opening, which snugly receivesthe sleeve 30. Thus means is provided for con necting the cutter-barsection 8 with the cutter-bar 7, and by slipping the cutter bar 8 fromthe sleeve 30 and by swinging the upper end of the bar and replacing theoctagonal opening over the sleeve of the said bolt, the cutter-bar 8 maybe positioned at an angle with relation to the cutter-bar 7.

From the above description it is obvious that as the implement is drawnalong the surface of the ground, rotary movement is transmitted from thetraction wheel 3 to the axle 2, and through the connecting sprocketchains and sprocket wheels 18, 17 and 15, to the shaft 14. From the saidshaft 1 1 rotary movement is transmitted through the sprocket wheel 16and chain 21, to the cylinder 19. The several sprocket wheels are ofdifferent dimensions, so that the rotary movement as it is transmittedis magnified, whereby the cylinder 19 rotates at a greater rate of speedthan the axle upon which it is journaled. As the said cylinder 19rotates the sides of the zigzag groove 22 oscillate the lever upon itsfulcrum point, and thus the sickle-bar 9 is reciprocated. As the saidsickle-bar 9 reciprocates as described, the knives carried thereby willsever the stalks or stems of the vines upon the ground. At the same timethe reciprocatory movement is transmitted from the sickle-bar 9 to thesickle-bar section 10 through the links 12 and 13 and bell-crank lever11, and as the sickle-bar section 10 reciprocates vertically, orapproximately so, it will sever the branches of the vines which are cut,from those which are left standing, and which project into the path ofmovement of the mower.

The parts as above described may also be used for cutting vines betweenadjacent rows of standing stalks, the horizontally disposed sickle-barwill sever the vines be tween the rows, while the vertically disposedsickle-bar section will trim the branches of the vines along the sidesof the stalks.

In some cases it is desired that the swath of material which is cut asabove indicated should be out along a line between its longitudinaledges, and, to accomplish this, a second cutter-bar section 8 may bemounted upon the cutter-bar 7 in a manner similar to that as describedin connection with the said cutter-bar section 8; but the sections 8 andS are spaced from each other as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Asickle-bar 10 is arranged for reciprocatory movement along thecutter-bar section 8, and the said sickle-barlO is operated from thesicklebar 9 by means of a lever 11 and connecting links 12 and 13. Thearrangement of the lever 11 and the links 12 and 13 is similar to thatdescribed in connection with the lever 11, and links 12 and 13. Thus itwill be seen that as a swath of material is cut,

the sickle-bar 10 will be reciprocated vertically or approximately so,and that the said swath will be split or severed in a line intermediateof its edges. Thus the material which is left deposited upon the groundis in strips, and may be easily harvested or gathered.

hat is claimed is A mower comprising a frame, an axle journaled upon theframe, a traction wheel fixed to the axle, a cutter bar attached to theframe and projecting beyond one side thereof, a sickle bar mounted forreciprocatory movement upon the cutter bar, a cylinder journaled uponsaid axle and having a zig-zag peripheral groove, a lever fulcrumed uponthe frame and having one end connected with. the sickle bar and theother end lying in the groove of the cylinder, a

my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of twowltnesses.

WILLIAM I. HALL.

shaft journaled in the frame beyond the periphery of the traction Wheel,means for transmitting rotary movement from the traction Wheel to thelast said shaft and 5 means for transmitting rotary movement Vitnesses:

from the last said shaft to the cylinder. E. HUME TALBERT, In testimonythat I claim the foregoing as i C. E. PREINKERT.

